Denture supporting clamp



y 1956 SCHWEIZER 2,754,591

DENTURE SUPPORTING CLAMP Filed May 20, L954 Zazzis ,Sckwez'zer INVENTOR ATTORNEYS United States Patent DENTURE SUPPORTING CLAMP Louis Schweizer, Hattiesburg, Miss.

Application May 20, 1954, Serial No. 431,024

1 Claim. (Cl. 32-68) This invention relates to a device for holding dentures or artificial teeth while they are being brushed, the primary object of the invention being to provide a device of this character which will not only securely clamp the artificial teeth or dentures, but one which will permit the artificial teeth or denture to be held against accidental displacement from the device, which usually results in the denture being broken.

Another object of the invention is to provide a clamp embodying a pivotally connected arm having jaws which are disposed at right angles to the longitudinal axes of said arms, so that the denture will be clamped in such a way that twisting of the denture while held between the jaws will be prevented.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a device of this character which embodies a pair of pivotally connected arms held in their clamping positions by means of a coiled spring, thereby obviating the necessity of the person using the holder, tightly gripping the device in order to hold the denture, during the brushing thereof.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts, hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claims, it being understood that changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

Referring to the drawing:

Figure 1 is an elevational view illustrating a clamping and holding device, constructed in accordance with the invention as gripping a denture.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the clamp and holding device with a denture clamped between the jaws thereof.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective view illustrating the construction of the jaws.

Referring to the drawing in detail, the device comprises arms 5 and 6 which have notches 7 extending inwardly from one of the respective ends thereof, the notches 7 being held in alignment by means of the coiled spring 8 which is so constructed and arranged that the coiled portion 9 thereof will exactly fit within the notches.

As clearly shown by Fig. 2 of the drawing, one end of Patented July 17, 1956 the coiled spring is formed into a spring arm 10 that has its free end bent laterally at right angles, providing a hook 11 adapted to fit over one end of the arm 5 to bias the arm 5 towards the arm 6. The opposite end of the coiled spring 8 is formed into an arm) 12 which extends in a direction opposite to the arm 10, where the hooked end 13 thereof is hooked over the outer edge of the arm 6. These arms 10 and 12 fit closely against one of the side faces of the arms 5 or 6 with which they are associated so that the arms 10 and 12 tend to hold the arms 5 and 6 against lateral movement with respect to each other.

The reference character 14 indicates one of the jaws of the device, which jaw is secured to the end of arm 5, where it extends transversely of the arm 5, the jaw 14 being substantially wide and curved to fit over teeth of the denture, as better shown by Fig. 2 of the drawing. The jaw 14 is of channel shape in transverse section with the channel of parabolic shape. The jaw 15 is secured to the end of arm 6 and is oval or egg shaped in cross section with the small end comfronting jaw 14 so that it fits within the usual denture groove formed in the rear surface of the denture groove to cooperate with the jaw 14 in gripping the denture to hold the denture against accidental displacement While the denture is being brushed.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the denture, which in the present showing is indicated by the reference character A, will be securely gripped by the device which is held in the hand of the person brushing the denture to permit the cleaning and brushing of the denture with facility and without danger of dropping the denture.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed A clamp for holding a denture during the brushing thereof, comprising a pair of longitudinally bent arms, means for pivotally connecting said arms at one of their respective ends, jaws formed at the opposite ends of said arms, extending at right angles to said arms, one of said jaws having a channel-shaped gripping face adapted to fit over the teeth of a denture, the other jaw being substantially egg shaped in transverse section with the small end confronting the channel of said one jaw adapted to move into the channel of said one jaw in spaced relation with the surfaces thereof, and adapted to grip the rear surface of a denture plate with said arms providing a handle, and a spring connected with said arms normally biasing said jaws towards each other.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 74,601 Rothschild Feb. 18, 1868 365,755 Moore June 28, 1887 481,479 Deardorfi Aug. 23, 1892 1,979,528 Bruce Nov. 6, 1934 2,662,432 Peitl Dec. 15, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 605,936 France of 1925 

